Night returned quietly to Solareth Academy, but sleep did not come easily to Akira.
When it finally did—
He opened his eyes to endless darkness.
No ground.No sky.Only silence.
Then his shadow moved.
It peeled itself away from his feet, rising, stretching, taking shape until it stood before him—an exact reflection, its eyes empty and vast.
Akira's breath tightened.
"…Void."
The shadow smiled.
"You finally used me."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere.
"But power is never free."
Akira clenched his fists. "What do you want?"
The Void stepped closer.
"This time, I take your mana."
A pressure gripped his chest, as if something was slowly being drained from his core.
"But remember this," the Void continued."If you wish to use me without paying a price—"
It leaned in, its voice dropping to a whisper.
"You must fight me.""Defeat me.""And only then will I acknowledge you."
Akira met its gaze, unflinching.
"…Next time I come here," he said calmly, "I'll fight you."
The Void laughed softly.
"I will be waiting."
Darkness swallowed everything.
Akira jolted awake.
His breath was uneven. His body trembled.
Rin and Liliya stood at the foot of his bed, arms crossed, eyes sharp with worry.
"You were shaking," Rin said. "A lot."
Liliya nodded. "Was it a nightmare?"
Akira hesitated—then nodded once.
"…Yeah."
Rin didn't look convinced, but she didn't press further.
Yet both of them felt it.
Something had changed.
The Council's Fear
Far from the academy, within the sealed chambers of the Mage Council, tension filled the air.
"The masked man saved the academy," one councilor said. "But his identity remains unknown."
Another slammed a hand on the table. "Then we find him. Capture him."
Silence followed.
Then Yuto spoke.
"…No."
All eyes turned toward the elven councilor.
"He is not someone we can fight," Yuto said slowly. "If every council member attacked him together—"
He paused.
"We would be killed."
A murmur spread through the chamber.
"Explain yourself," someone demanded.
Yuto's eyes narrowed.
"I sensed his mana in the air that day," he said."It does not belong to this world."
The room fell silent.
Back at the academy, Akira stood alone on the training grounds.
His body still ached. His mana flow felt thinner—unstable.
Yet he moved.
Slowly. Carefully.
Wind responded sluggishly. Fire flickered instead of roaring.
Akira exhaled.
So this is the price…
Still—he didn't stop.
The Demon King Awakens
In the Demon Realm, the earth trembled.
A throne long buried in darkness cracked open.
Red eyes ignited.
The Demon King had awakened.
His presence rippled across worlds, felt by the old heroes, the kings of every race—and by forces that had slept for centuries.
War was no longer a distant possibility.
It was approaching.
A Stirring Sense
Akira paused mid-training.
His hand pressed against his chest.
A pressure—vast and ancient—brushed against his senses.
"…Something powerful," he murmured.
Something had awakened.
And instinct told him—
The future would demand everything he had.